The morning of 11 February was bitterly cold on “the banks of my own lovely Lee”, as the Cork anthem goes.  But the sky was blue, the water was kind and the rowers turned out in droves.

In between saying my goodbyes before heading back to Australia, I busied myself with the camera until my fingers all but snapped off.

Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the river to get any close-up action of crews racing downstream.

All photos are available in glorious high-res on Flickr and free to download – just mention my blog if you’re sharing on social media.

To access the album, just click/tap on the photo below:

“Where we sported and played…”

I learnt later that the prizes were awarded by Olympians Gary O’Donovan and Sanita Puspure – what a brilliant way to inspire rowers of all ages!